ARRL EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS SECTION
Section Manager (SM) – Phil Temples, K9HI
Assistant Section Manager (ASM) – Jeremy Breef-Pilz, KB1REQ
Affiliated Club Coordinator (ACC) – Arthur “Bo” Budinger, WA1QYM
Official Observer Coordinator (OOC) – Ed Parish, K1EP
Public Information Coordinator (PIC) – Bob Salow, WA1IDA
Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC) – Rob Macedo, KD1CY
Section Traffic Manager (STM) – Marcia Forde, KW1U
State Government Liaison (SGL) – Shawn O’Donnell, K3HI
Technical Coordinator (TC) – Eric Falkof, K1NUN
NOVEMBER 2013 SECTION NEWS
You won’t want to miss the Yankee Clipper Contest Club’s Contest
University training session in Billerica on November 6 from 6:00-8:45
p.m. These highly successful sessions are enlightening for both the
newbie and “barnacle-encrusted” alike. Taught by seasoned contesters,
the course covers topics like: contest planning, execution, and
maximizing your score with limited time and antennas. The event is
hosted by the Billerica ARS. For more information and to RSVP, email
<k1kp@yccc.org>.
Great band conditions contributed to a very active CQWW Phone contest
weekend on October 26-27. Lots of Eastern MA stations could be heard in
the thick of things. One participant remarked, “Can conditions get any
better? Conditions were unreal on 10 meters… It has been a long time
since the band has been this good.” The CQWW CW contest is slated for
November 23-24. Full contest rules can be found at
<http://www.cqww.com>.
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the Falmouth ARA’s 15th annual
FARAFest on November 9 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in Bourne. Details
can be found at <http://tinyurl.com/l463huj> [page no longer active.]
This SM attended a very informative presentation by AMSAT President
Barry Baines, WD4ASW on “AMSAT and Amateur Radio in Space” at the
Framingham ARA’s monthly meeting on October 3.
At this writing, Ed Weiss, W1NXC is in the middle of conducting a Morse
Code Clinic over three sequential Saturdays in October and November at
the Framingham ARA club shack.
The Cape Ann ARA conducted a successful Tech In A Day course on October
19 in Gloucester. Thirteen of the 15 students passed their Technician
exams. CAARA President Stan Stone, W4HIX instructed the class.
A malicious computer cracker defaced the Cape Ann ARA’s web site in
early October, but the club’s Webmaster was able to restore order from
chaos quickly. The site looks great once again.
The Eastern MA ARRL cabinet will hold its last quarterly meeting for
2013 in Hopkinton on November 25.
Algonquin ARC members provided communications for the Town of
Marlborough’s Hazmat Day on October 26.
AARC members will also help the Town of Marlborough with a Halloween
Patrol on October 31 from 7-11 p.m.
W1AHM is coordinating PART of Westford’s Pumpkin Patrol.
Numerous fox hunts have been conducted of late in and around Chelmsford
and Bridgewater. Keep up the great work, folks!
Nashoba Valley ARC members assisted the W1 QSL Bureau with a card
sorting session at the club’s October 17 meeting.
N1ZCE of Needham recently attended a “Maker Faire” in Dover, New
Hampshire.
Amateurs throughout Plymouth County and the Southeast MA coast area
were saddened to learn of the passing of Bruce D. Hayden, NI1X of
Raynham.
The Whitman Amateur Radio Public Service Net meets every Sunday morning
at 8:30 a.m. on the 147.225 (PL 67.0) WA1NPO repeater.
The Lowell Area CERT Communications Team provided Amateur Radio
communications for the Bay State Marathon on October 20 at the request
of the Lowell Office of Emergency Management and the Lowell Fire
Department, reports CERT Communications Team Leader KA8SCP.
The Zola Center in Newton will hold a meeting on November 16 at which
members will construct antennas, and hear a presentation by Eric
Williams, KV1J, on his DXpedition to FP-land.
Does your club need speakers and presentations for its monthly
meetings? Be sure to check out the Eastern MA ARRL Club Speakers List
at <http://ema.arrl.org/node/1816>.
Over 7,000 scouts attended the recent “MassJam 2013” event at the
Barnstable County Fairgrounds in Falmouth on October 12-14. “Everything
ran quite well with no major incidents to report, only minor bumps in
the road,” according the MassJam Communications Director Jim Palmer,
KB1KQW.
The City of Lynn is looking to improve its emergency disaster
communications capabilities and start a Community Emergency Response
Team (CERT) program, according to KB1LPW. Interested parties are
invited to contact Lynn Fire Chief Tom Hines at <thines@lynnMA.gov>.
K1LGC reports that the Town of West Newbury is offering CERT training
in early November. Those interested should contact the town’s EMA
Director, Lee Ann Delp.
It’s still in the planning stages, but a North Shore club is in the
planning stages to conduct a Tech In A Day class for a CERT Team in
Billerica. There may be as many as 30- to 40 candidates for the class!
The Pilgrim ARC meeting on November 12 will feature a representative
from CapeNet to discuss the Open Cape fiber optic system being built
across Cape Cod.
Joe Chapman, NV1W writes in the President’s column of the Boston ARC
newsletter, The SPARC, October, 2013: “Working one’s antipode might be
considered one variety of ultimate DX (though moonbounce or working
Wellesley via the long path involves more distance). Boston’s antipode
is in the Indian Ocean 700 miles or so from the southwest corner of
Australia. I have not had the guts to punch the coordinates into
MacLoggerDX to get a bearing; I picture a dialog box popping up saying,
‘Oh, heck, just point your antenna anywhere.’ Or if it had a rotor to
control, having it continually sweep around like a ship’s radar. The
nearest land to that point is Cape Leeuwin in Australia, and a Google
search turns up some interesting operations, especially during
International Lighthouse and Lightship weekend in August. The nearest
large city is Perth in VK6 land.”
Finally–from the CQ Newsroom website: “Last Man Standing” producer
John Amodeo, NN6JA, reports that lead character Mike Baxter (Tim Allen)
finally gets on the ham bands during the program’s Thanksgiving episode,
which was shot in mid-October and scheduled to air on November 22 on
ABC. According to John, Mike heads to his basement ham shack to escape
a house full of guests waiting for Thanksgiving dinner to be served.
This is the second “Last Man Standing” episode to include ham radio as
a story element, and the first in which Allen’s character is seen
operating his ham station.
73,
K9HI
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ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section
Section Manager: Phillip Temples, K9HI
k9hi@arrl.org
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